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The Economics of the Climate

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  • Geoffrey Heal

Abstract

I review the economic characteristics of the climate problem, focusing on the choice of discount rates in the presence of a stock externality, risk and uncertainty/ambiguity, and the role of integrated assessment models (IAMs) in analyzing policy choices. I suggest that IAMs can play a role in providing qualitative understanding of how complex systems behave, but are not accurate enough to provide quantitative insights. Arguments in favor of action on climate issues have to be based on aversion to risk and ambiguity and the need to avoid a small but positive risk of a disastrous outcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Geoffrey Heal, 2017. "The Economics of the Climate," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 1046-1063, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:55:y:2017:i:3:p:1046-63
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/jel.20151335
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard S J Tol, 2018. "The Economic Impacts of Climate Change," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 4-25.
    2. Casey, Gregory & Fried, Stephie & Gibson, Matthew, 2024. "Understanding climate damages: Consumption versus investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    3. Nowakowski, Adam & Oswald. Andrew J, 2020. "Do Europeans Care about Climate Change? An Illustration of the Importance of Data on Human Feelings," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1303, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    4. Richard S.J. Tol, 2018. "The impact of climate change and the social cost of carbon," Working Paper Series 1318, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Moritz A. Drupp & Martin C. Hänsel, 2021. "Relative Prices and Climate Policy: How the Scarcity of Nonmarket Goods Drives Policy Evaluation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 168-201, February.
    6. Cantelmo, Alessandro & Melina, Giovanni & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2023. "Macroeconomic outcomes in disaster-prone countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Lewis Davis & Dolores Garrido & Carolina Missura, 2023. "Inherited Patience and the Taste for Environmental Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-10, February.
    8. Charles Fries & François Gourio, 2020. "Adaptation and the Cost of Rising Temperature for the U.S. Economy," Working Paper Series WP 2020-08, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    9. De Bruin, Kelly & Kiran Krishnamurthy, Chandra, 2021. "Optimal Climate Policy with Fat-tailed Uncertainty: What the Models Can Tell Us," Papers WP697, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    10. Kent D. Daniel & Robert B. Litterman & Gernot Wagner, 2016. "Applying Asset Pricing Theory to Calibrate the Price of Climate Risk," NBER Working Papers 22795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Olivier R de Bandt & Luc Jacolin & Thibault Lemaire, 2021. "Climate Change in Developing Countries: Global Warming Effects, Transmission Channels and Adaptation Policies," Working Papers hal-03948704, HAL.
    12. Sigit Perdana and Rod Tyers, 2020. "Global Climate Change Mitigation: Strategic Incentives," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 183-206.
    13. Peter Harrison Howard & Derek Sylvan, 2020. "Wisdom of the experts: Using survey responses to address positive and normative uncertainties in climate-economic models," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 213-232, September.
    14. Nowakowski, Adam & Oswald, Andrew J, 2020. "Do Europeans Care about Climate Change? An Illustration of the Importance of Data on Human Feelings," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 510, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    15. Parantap Basu & Tooraj Jamasb, 2019. "On Green Growth with Sustainable Capital," Working Papers 2019_06, Durham University Business School.
    16. Joseph E. Aldy & Richard Zeckhauser, 2020. "Three prongs for prudent climate policy," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(1), pages 3-29, July.
    17. Ludovic Gaudard & Franco Romerio, 2020. "A Conceptual Framework to Classify and Manage Risk, Uncertainty and Ambiguity: An Application to Energy Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-22, March.
    18. Giacomo Marangoni & Jonathan R. Lamontagne & Julianne D. Quinn & Patrick M. Reed & Klaus Keller, 2021. "Adaptive mitigation strategies hedge against extreme climate futures," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 1-17, June.
    19. Eric J. Bartelsman, 2019. "From New Technology to Productivity," European Economy - Discussion Papers 113, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    20. Wim Naudé & Ricardo Vinuesa, 2020. "Data, global development, and COVID-19: Lessons and consequences," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-109, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    21. Duan, Hongbo & Yuan, Deyu & Cai, Zongwu & Wang, Shouyang, 2022. "Valuing the impact of climate change on China’s economic growth," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 155-174.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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